Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 16.6

dvau bhūta-sargau loke 'smin

daiva āsura eva ca

daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta

āsuraḿ pārtha me śṛṇu

SYNONYMS

dvau — two; bhūta-sargau — created living beings; loke — in the world; asmin — this; daivaḥ — godly; āsuraḥ — demoniac; eva — certainly; ca — and; daivaḥ — the divine; vistaraśaḥ — at great length; proktaḥ — said; āsuram — the demoniac; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā; me — from Me; śṛṇu — just hear.

TRANSLATION

O son of Pṛthā, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called the divine and the other demoniac. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa, having assured Arjuna that he was born with the divine qualities, is now describing the demoniac way. The conditioned living entities are divided into two classes in this world. Those who are born with divine qualities follow a regulated life; that is to say they abide by the injunctions in scriptures and by the authorities. One should perform duties in the light of authoritative scripture. This mentality is called divine. One who does not follow the regulative principles as they are laid down in the scriptures and who acts according to his whims is called demoniac or asuric. There is no other criterion but obedience to the regulative principles of scriptures. It is mentioned in Vedic literature that both the demigods and the demons are born of the Prajāpati; the only difference is that one class obeys the Vedic injunctions and the other does not.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness